Voted amendments to the Constitution do not answer the question: «What will happen to Donbas?»

Today amendments to the Constitution, which were voted by the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading, – is a formal reform that does not answer the questions of society. Oleksandr Klymenko – politician, founder of the initiative “Restoring Donbas” – wrote about is on his Facebook page.

According to him, the main modifications are decorative in nature, while the new mechanisms of local government, which were offered in the text, are not feasible in practice. In addition, suggested introduction of the prefects and the ability of the President to control the activities of local communities via court mean strengthening of the central authority in the localities. According to Oleksandr Klymenko, the most important thing is voted changes do not give any answer on question: «What will happen to Donbas?».

They stipulate that “the peculiarities of the local government in some regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are defined by a separate law.” The relevant law was adopted in September 2014. However, apart from the provisions related to the holding of elections, ban harassment, the right to use the Russian language and the possibility of creating a people’s militia, there were no specific rules.

Thus, in practice it is not clear, what does it mean. “Upon the whole, this is just another formal reform that gives almost no answers to the acute questions of the society. Even if it is a step towards resolving the conflict in the East, it is negligible. At any moment, it can be both a step forward and backward”, – said Oleksandr Klymenko.